Imagine a hardball hurtling towards
you at 165.76km/h, with thousands of people in a stadium
staring at you, expecting you to catch the bloody thing
without flinching. That's what poor Atlanta Braves catcher
Javy Lopez had to contend with in 1995 when ace relief
pitcher Mark Wohlers launched what turned out to be
the fastest pitch ever recorded right at him. With the
World Series of baseball around the corner, it seems
like a good time to wonder why anyone would put his
inadequately padded hand in the line of such high-speed
fire.
Catchers have always been deemed
a breed apart; in fact, they're reputed to be the most
eccentric players in a game chock-full of screwballs.
Hall of Famer Johnny Bench once told his teammates in
the dugout: "A catcher and his body are like the outlaw
and his horse. He's got to ride that nag till it drops."
A recent study from the Journal
of Bone and Joint Surgery has shown that the nag
may be dropping sooner rather than later. The authors
looked at the longterm damage that arises from the noble
art of catching baseballs travelling at Autobahn-like
speeds.
BALL
GLOVES FINGERED
The study, loftily entitled "Vascular Changes of the
Hand in Professional Baseball Players with Emphasis
on Digital Ischemia in Catchers," examined 36 professional
minor-league ball players. Among other startling findings,
the investigators discovered that the index finger on
the catcher's gloved hand was about two ring sizes larger
than the one on their other hand. This screams repeated
injury.
It turns out a catcher's mitt,
unlike the gloves of other fielders, guides the ball
to strike the bottom of the index finger — a blood
vessel hotspot. And indeed the investigators found that
catchers were also more likely to have abnormal circulation
in the catching hand, and complained of more hand ailments
than other position players.
The discovery of blood vessel damage
in catchers' hands falls in line with the kinds of injuries
that bedevil the position. Unlike pitchers, who often
blow out their arm heroically, undergo ulnar collateral
ligament reconstruction (better known as Tommy John
surgery) and have a fighting chance at full recovery,
catchers often break down slowly and permanently. Yes,
these crouching tigers are defeated by attrition. Statistics
mavens have long observed that catchers tend to start
a precipitous decline in skills at about 30 years of
age, when many other players are at their prime.
WE
KNOW SQUAT
Even if you don't count any pro ballplayers among your
patients, this still may concern you and your practice
if you see amateur catchers: gifted high school pitchers
can sometimes deliver fastballs upwards of 145km/h.
University of Toronto Sport Medicine
specialist Dr Ian Cohen treats members of the school's
baseball team as well as the Argonauts pro football
team. He calls this study "preliminary" and adds that
it "suggests that a larger, longer study might be warranted
to see if there is in fact longterm consequences [to
catching]." Yet he feels that, in the meantime, one
should approach catching with trepidation. "I certainly
would not advise players to choose a career as a catcher
based on this study," he says.
That's not to say dyed in the wool
catchers like Johnny Bench would listen. As a rookie,
the cocksure Mr Bench once threw his mitt to the ground
and caught the ball barehanded in protest of his pitcher's
less-than-impressive fastball. So despite new evidence
of possible dangers, for Mr Bench and many of his fellow
squatters, nothing is more important than making that
catch, least of all the risk of injury.
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